Published: Friday, March 21, 2014 at 2:56 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, March 21, 2014 at 2:56 p.m.

In early March, as the area bundled up for a surprisingly brisk winter, the yards of one suburban Porter's Neck neighborhood were appropriately lined with Christmas decorations, but it wasn't because the neighbors had neglected putting away their various light-up St. Nicks, wreaths and nativity scenes. Instead, the festive decorations came courtesy of ABC's Christmas-set murder mystery pilot "Secrets & Lies."

A crew member cuts a piece of wood on one of the sets for CBS's new TV series, "Red Zone," Wednesday at Maides Park in Wilmington.

Photo by Jesse Fath

Facts

PILOT SCORECARD

Twenty years ago this spring, the pilot episode for CBS' "Touched By An Angel" filmed in the Wilmington area. Although the pilot was completely reshot in Utah, the show was just one example of the many pilots that have used Wilmington as a launching pad for their potential series. Here is a rundown of pilots shot in the region in the past two decades.

'Touched By an Angel'Summary: Three angels travel the Earth reminding troubled people of God's love. Pilot filmed: 1994What happened: After filming ended, the pilot, produced under the names "Someone to Watch Over Me" and "Angel's Attic," was completely reworked, and production moved to Utah for a reshoot. The series went on to run on CBS for nine seasons.

'The Road Home'Summary: A woman moves her family back to North Carolina to run her family's shrimp boat business. Pilot filmed: 1993What happened: CBS only produced five more episodes of the series, all shot locally, and they aired in March-April 1994.

'Dawson's Creek'Summary: Friends grapple with adolescence in the coastal town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Pilot filmed: 1997What happened: The WB picked up the drama series and the production remained in Wilmington for the show's entire six-season run.

'One Tree Hill'Summary: Two estranged brothers live and love in a small North Carolina town. Pilot filmed: 2003What happened: The WB picked up the teen drama and kept production in Wilmington. It moved to The CW in 2006, and production remained local for its entire nine-season run.

'Surface'Plot: The lives of three strangers in a small coastal town are forever changed when a new and potentially dangerous species of sea life appears.Pilot filmed: 2005What happened: NBC picked up for this sci-fi series and kept production in Wilmington. It was cancelled after one season.

'Eastbound & Down'Summary: A irreverent former Major League baseball tries to make his way back into the league. Pilot filmed: 2007What happened: HBO picked up the raunchy comedy and returned to film portions of all of the show's four seasons in Wilmington.

'Gimme Shelter'Summary: An experienced medical team travels around the country helping the less fortunate. Starred Sissy Spacek, Skeet Ulrich, Janeane Garofalo and "Under the Dome's" Rachelle Leferve.Pilot filmed: 2010What happened: It was not picked up by original developer CBS, and also failed to go to series with TNT, which looked at potentially retooling the series after CBS passed.

'Playing with Guns'Summary: Two childhood friends become cops in their hometown. Two pilots filmed: 2010, 2012What happened: Originally developed for Spike, this pilot was eventually turned down and then retooled by Comedy Central before being passed over again.

'Revenge' Summary: A young woman returns to the Hamptons to get revenge on the well-to-do families who framed her father for a terrorist attack.Pilot filmed: 2011What happened: ABC picked the soapy drama series and moved production to California. It is currently airing its third season 10 p.m. Sundays.

'Hart of Dixie'Summary: A young doctor moves back to her Southern hometown and opens a practice.Pilot filmed: 2011What happened: The CW picked up the Southern-set series and moved production the Warner Brothers lot in California. It is currently airing its third season 9 p.m. Fridays.

'Witches of East End'Summary: Two sisters learn they are their family's next generation of witches, a lineage that also includes their mother. Pilot filmed: 2012What happened: Lifetime picked up the show and moved production to Vancouver. The show has been renewed for a second season.

'Secrets & Lies'Summary: A family man stumbles across the body of a young neighborhood boy and becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Pilot filmed: February-March 2014What happened: The series has a 10-episode series penalty from ABC, which means if it is not picked up for at least that many episodes, the network will have to pay certain fees to the production company.

'Red Zone' Summary: A former CIA operative gets pulled back into the action after a terrorist attack rocks Washington, D.C.Pilot filmed: Currently in productionWhat happened: Too soon to tell. CBS will announce its fall lineup in May.

'How & Why'Summary: When a talk show host loses his passion for the program and is replaced by a younger host, he moves to small town to start another show of smaller stature. Pilot filmed: Production stars April 28What happened: Too soon to tell, though FX CEO John Landgraf said if the show is picked up, the writers will pen an entire season's worth of episodes before any more filming takes place.

– Hunter Ingram

The potential series follows a family man (played by Ryan Phillippe) who stumbles across the body of a young neighbor and ends up being implicated in the boy's murder. The production, which began Feb. 28 and wrapped production in Wilmington this past Sunday, employed local crew members and dozens of background actors. But it's possible no one, including those who worked on it, will ever see the episode.

The project is just one of the latest pilots, the industry term for the first episode of a series, to shoot in the region.

Aaron Kaplan, a producer with Kapital Entertainment, which produces "Secrets & Lies," said pilots are seen as industry "prototypes" and can be the deciding factor in whether a series gets made.

In just the past two decades, Wilmington has hosted a slew of pilots that used the local crew base to quietly film these one-off episodes before packing up and heading out, waiting for the pivotal yay or nay for their respective network. This year alone, three pilots will set up cameras in town – "Secrets & Lies," the currently filming terrorist drama "Red Zone" for CBS, and FX's "How & Why," a comedy starring John Hawkes and Michael Cera that starts production April 28.

Pilots offer the local industry short bursts of business that bring interested production companies into the area and give local crew and actors another line for the resume. But even if they go in front of the camera in the Port City, a pilot doesn't always translate to success or long-term business for the area.

Every year, from late fall into winter, television networks option potential projects in various stages of development that range from a simple idea to completely realized script. This is the beginning of the time known as pilot season, a proverbial sprint to finding the next great TV show.

Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Commission, said when production companies contact his office interested in scouting potential pilot filming locations, they frequently know little information about the show's detailed needs.

"Sometimes, those that contact us only know that the show will need a general location like a coastal town, a high school or a specific town look," Griffin said.

The average production time for a pilot fluctuates, according to Griffin, but typically spans 10-15 days or fewer, depending on the show's format (half-hour comedy or one-hour drama). Most recently, "Secrets & Lies" topped out at 16 days of production, while "How & Why" is only scheduled for an eight- to nine-day shoot.

Also dependent on the scale of the production is how much money will be spent in the area. While filming its pilot in 2007, HBO's raunchy half-hour comedy series "Eastbound & Down" spent nearly $1.6 million and employed 574 crew members, according to tax documents filed with the state. "Gimme Shelter," a CBS medical drama pilot, filmed in 2010 with 160 crew and spent more than $4.4 million.

While filming, the projects tend to operate under the radar, not to stir up too much news or buzz before the studio and networks have a chance to decide the show's fate.

Once a pilot has filmed, the network and the creative minds behind the show get a chance to see the writer's concept, which has previously only been expressed written on paper, and then determine what works and what doesn't.

"A pilot allows networks to see how characters work and allows audience testing to take place to see if audiences are responding to the story and characters," Kaplan said. "It allows networks to tinker with it and decide, not only from a perspective of 'Do we like it?,' but also, "Do we think audiences will like it?'"

For example, after filming wrapped on the pilot for "One Tree Hill" in 2002, which shot under the name "Ravens," the the role of Reagan, played by Samantha Shelton, was revamped and recast. Her role as the best friend of Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) became Haley, who would be played by Bethany Joy Lenz for the show's entire nine-season run. All of Shelton's dialogue scenes were then reshot, but she can still be seen in the background of several scenes in the episode and was given a guest-star billing.

Creative retooling also affected the original pilot of CBS' long-running "Touched By an Angel," which filmed in Wilmington March-May 1994. After the pilot wrapped local filming, significant changes were made to the story, leading the production to relocate to Utah where the final pilot was filmed.

Relocation is another possibility after a pilot completes filming. Most recently, Lifetime's supernatural family drama "Witches of East End" moved filming to Vancouver after the pilot filmed in and around Wilmington in late 2012.

Yajhayra Maria worked as an extra on the set of "Witches" and said she didn't know if the show would be staying in Wilmington beyond the pilot, but that didn't stop the cast and crew from making the most out of their chance to work on the new project.

"(Working on a pilot,) I think everyone is more excited, positive and hopeful that the show will go forward, because we are part of something of new that no one has seen," she said.

The same happened to ABC's "Revenge" and The CW's "Hart of Dixie," both of which shot pilots in Wilmington in 2011 before packing up and moving onto studio lots in California.

Of course, the Port City has benefitted long term from pilots shot elsewhere, too. Fall's breakout hit "Sleepy Hollow," which filmed its buzzy first season locally from July to December last year, originally shot its pilot in and around Salisbury in April.

"Revolution," which shot its first season in the region before heading to Texas for new filming locations in 2013, found its way to Wilmington after shooting its pilot in Georgia.

Typically, the broadcast pilot season, serving the September to May television cycle, finds the majority of pilots completing filming in February and March. By May, the shows' producers are notified if they have made their network's upcoming season schedule.

The odds of earning a series order vary depending on each network, which has to find slots in its schedule for new shows, while maintaining space for its existing programming.

Kaplan estimates that most broadcast networks shoot 60 to 75 percent more pilots than they actually order to series. At ABC, "Secrets & Lies" is up against 12 other drama pilots in contention for schedule slots, while "Red Zone" is one of nine drama pilots at CBS, which typically produces and picks up fewer pilots each year than its competitors.

As for Kaplan's personal track record when it comes to pilots, his production company has had 11 of its 22 pilots go to series. In addition to "Secrets & Lies," he is producing new pilots for Fox (Jane Krakowski-led "Dead Boss") and NBC ("The Mysteries of Laura" with Debra Messing) this season.

Wilmington has had even more luck with launching TV shows. Out of 11 shows that shot pilots in Wilmington from 1994 to 2014 (see sidebar), only two have not been picked up for at least one partial season.

"Gimme Shelter" and the twice-filmed pilot "Playing with Guns" have not moved forward. The latter was originally developed by Spike in 2010 and subsequently passed over before it was optioned by Comedy Central and filmed again in 2012, only to be denied once more.

To avoid the congestion of pilot season, Kaplan said that, in recent years, a number of networks have bypassed the traditional pilot process and gone straight to series with certain shows. This was the case with "Under the Dome," which received an initial 13-episode order from CBS when it was first announced in December 2012.

And pilot "season" itself may soon be a thing of the past. At the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour in January, Fox announced that they would be forgoing pilot season and will develop shows year-round. Though at the same tour, John Landgraf, CEO of FX and FX Productions, which is making "How & Why," said pilots themselves still serve a purpose.

"Most pilots, not all – I don't think we did a single reshoot on "Damages" – but I think many pilots, you'd be surprised how much additional work we do on them now before they go on the air," Landgraf said.

And as long as pilots still play serve a purpose in the industry, locals hope they will seek out Wilmington as a filming location.

Griffin said he feels as though pilots present the opportunity to bring interested parties into Wilmington and show all the region has to offer film and TV projects.

"The good thing about pilots is you are dealing with the production companies that are shooting them – companies that have a constant stream of projects to produce," he said. "So bringing in these companies that haven't been here before or even ones that have for short filming windows gives them a chance to test what the area has to offer."

This year, Wilmington had a quiet Porter's Neck neighborhood to offer "Secrets & Lies." Now, all its cast and crew have to do is wait to see if their work earns a spot in next season's TV schedule.